Friday, March 20, 2009 - Update

Look at me go!
I like to carry around pictures of my boyfriends.
Oh, that cute Cooper!

My friend and previous boss, Pam, visited the other day. She brought a picture of her grandson and Olivia carried that picture around for over an hour. It even went on a walk with us. I finally had to pry it out of her hands because it was getting a little bent up and I put it on the refrigerator. She likes to look at that picture along with the other baby pictures on our fridge and smile. It's really cute.

It seems that RSV is peaking right now. . .a bit late this year. Just when it seems I can almost relax and expose Olivia to more things. . .I find out that I can't. I was a little irritated the other day by a story that my sister-in-law told me. A lady took her son into the doctor and found out that he had RSV. She still, however, took him to the play area that Olivia's cousin goes to. I realize that his case must be mild, but do people not realize how serious RSV can be for some children? How many children are now being exposed to it? That is why I can't take Olivia to certain places or ever let my guard down. No wonder I'm so exhausted. . .maybe I just look at things entirely different than most people.

A First Time For Everything

Look at my ouchie. . .

It's been a week of many firsts. Olivia went from sitting in her Learning Chair to a standing position last night. She's also getting better about letting go of furniture and walking. Olivia left her first little present for me in the bathtub last night. Of course, Kerry was here for that. Olivia always does something new while she's here. This morning, Olivia had her first fall that resulted in blood. Poor baby! She's doing really well with her walking, but turning is still a bit of a challenge. She was turning around in the office, fell and her poor face hit the wheels of my chair. I picked her up and noticed blood on my shirt. . .she had a fat lip and a bloody chin. You should see the inside of her lip. . .it's awful. That's one thing I hate about this newfound mobility. . .I can't take all of the falls. It's going to be very difficult to let her walk on concrete outside.

We're so excited to get out today and buy the new Llama Llama book. Hopefully, Olivia likes it as much as the other two books. Curling up and reading a good book together will surely help Olivia's chin feel better.

Happy Birthday Donnie

Happy Birthday to my brother, Donnie. . .er, Don as he is called now. All of the incriminating childhood photos are unfortunately at my parents' house, but here are some recent ones. Hope it's the best birthday ever!

My brother and his wonderful wife, Shelley.

My brother and I at my wedding

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - Update

Beautiful dismount
Nice pony
A new way to ride

I think Olivia's pony (or Ponita as we like to call her) is losing a bit of her magic. Olivia doesn't spend nearly as much time riding her as she used to. Now that she can pretty much walk on her own. . . .the pony just isn't as much help. Plus, she knows how to get off of her pony now. That pony has been so beneficial to Olivia. . .it literally opened up her world and gave her the mobility that she needed. I'm sure that they have quite a bit of good times left together. . .every girl needs a pony! Right now, I think Olivia also needs a swingset. We would both enjoy spending the time outside this Spring. If you see any good deals, let me know.

Olivia's New Shoes

Mom and dad made me get new shoes.
It's fun to walk outside!
But, they take a little getting used to.

Because Olivia continues to walk on her toes about 70% of the time, her PT suggested that we buy a supportive high top shoe. This will hopefully prevent her from having to wear a brace on her foot sometime in the future. She still manages, however, to walk on her toes, but. . .it's definitely not as much. Shoe shopping was a pretty traumatic ordeal. Grandma Mary and I went to Little Feet Boutique where they have trained fitters and half sizes available. According to Olivia, having your feet measured is almost as bad as a trip to the eye doctor. Poor baby. . I felt so bad for her. She cried and cried and cried even after she got her yellow balloon. She's adjusting well to wearing her new shoes although when I took them off of her feet tonight she laughed deliriously. They are not as stylish as some of the adorable shoes out there, but hopefully they'll help and she can have more practice walking outside.

An Afternoon At Botanica

With this beautiful weather, it's tempting to spend the day outside at the zoo. It's spring break, however, which means it is extra crowded so. . .no zoo for us this week. We were dying to get outside yesterday, so we went to Botanica with Grandma Mary, Aunt Kimmy, Alex, Katie, Aidan and Kaleb. Only a handful of other people were there, so we had the whole place to ourselves. Not much was blooming yet, but it was a great day to be outside and the kids had a good time feeding the fish. Olivia was cranky all morning long, but once I put her in the car and we left the house, she was an angel. I think she was as anxious to get out of the house as I was. Of course, we won't talk about how I got lost trying to get there (a place I've been to before in a town I've lived in all of my life) or showed up with my shirt inside-out.

Thanks, Kim, for taking pictures. If I couldn't even get my shirt on right, do you think I would really remember my camera?

Monday, March 16, 2009 - Update

My daddy brought me back a shirt from his trip to New Orleans.

We've been enjoying the weather.
And our house is turning into a t-shirt factory.

Not too much going on around here. I'm debating on how much to get Olivia out this week as it's Spring Break so places will be extra crowded. Plus, there is an awful flu/stomach virus going around that everyone is getting. Poor Izzy ended up in the ER as a result of it about a week ago. At least it's not a lower respiratory illness which is what we are the most concerned with, but I'd still like to avoid it. I can't stand, however, to stay inside the house for more than a few hours at a time anymore. At least with the nice weather, we can go for walks outside.

We worked on the t-shirts for most of the day on Saturday. We're debating about adding something extra to the shirts, but that is more time and money. Ryan also fixed the doorknob on the front door. For those of you who have been to our house. . .you understand how much this has bothered me. It works beautifully now and you can actually come and go with ease.